The next big thing in car innovation

[lkc]

Or more accurately how to get some cheap advertising and new ideas for free

New Scientist and BMW have teamed up for a competition called Road to the Future. The prize is a luxury weekend in London plus an iPad and all you have to do is predict the next major innovation for the car industry

Blurb

The car is at the heart of modern living. It is so much more than a means of getting from A to B. It is a status symbol, an extension of our personality and a statement of our values.

But get ready for a wrench: cars are about to change like never before. They are going electric, they'll be made of carbon fibre, they'll be networked wirelessly and they may even drive themselves.
To mark this revolution New Scientist has teamed up with BMW, whose fully-electric i3 Concept car and hybrid i8 Concept car will soon hit the streets, to offer you a glimpse of the future and a chance to win a fabulous prize.

Obviously the holy grail is solving the fuel conundrum but sometimes, just sometimes, the little things are more interesting so with that in mind what would you want invented to make driving a more pleasant experience.

I'd love a light-sensitive windscreen that could instantly cancel out the glare from illegal HIDs as I'm fed up with being blinded on a regular basis. And whilst I'm on the wish list a force field that would repel bugs from splatting on the car wouldn't go amiss.

URL for anyone interested in entering the competition is http://www.newscientist.com/roadtothefuture

Oh and I suspect any suggestions of smart indicators that correctly predict when they are required and turn themselves on will be completely ignored :laugh:

 

[mrcinquecento]

Obviously the holy grail is solving the fuel conundrum but sometimes, just sometimes, the little things are more interesting so with that in mind what would you want invented to make driving a more pleasant experience.

i take it the suggestions need to be road legal and not breach any kind of offensive weapons or firearms laws? :laugh:

i'd quite like to see KERS be applied to a road car, like in f1, it harvests the energy gained under braking and can be used to provide a boost in power to the engine, like an overtake button/overdrive type idea.

on the dowside, to hell with servicing your car if the kers unit went faulty :laugh: excellent car theft deterent though :laugh:

 

[lkc]

Having a grenade launcher to deter tailgators is probably a no-no :laugh:

But if you could solve the tailgator problems legally you'd be onto a winner

Oh and KERS has already been invented so nothing new there

 

[lkc]

Oh and KERS has already been invented so nothing new there

And where I **** up on that argument is that light-sensitive glass has also already been invented.

 

[Venters]

Pfft if it's new scientist judges then the answer has to revolve around carbon nanotubes. So components replaced that require longitudinal strain like conrods. Lower rotational stress on crank with increased engine balance from more precisely engineered conrods. End results less power loses through less internal momentum and better throttle respones increased fuel economy and best of all it's carbon nanotubes so the crew at new scientist will cum in their pants.

 

[clock34]

electronicly controled paint color.

i remember reading somewhere about electro reactive paint.. so may exist but id love to change the color whenever i want to whatever i want......

also ive always been a fan of Headsup displays so like pop up reversing camera on the rear window ect.

 

[Andi9386]

See the light sensitive windscreen I could see being a very good idea.
Like you Katie I'm gettin sick of people with HIDs practically blindin me..... same with people who DON'T DIP THEIR BLOODY LIGHTS.

Automatically adjusting suspension, to help reduce the chances of damage if you accidently hit a pothole, or are on a country road.

 

[clock34]

audi r8 has that andi as does the landrover evoque

 

[msb89]

i read an article saying scientists have invented headlights that can detect rain, and they can somehow or another stop the particular beams of light as to where the rain drops are, therefore making it look like its not raining, and making ur view ahead clearer etc.

if your interested, here's the article:

http://bigfox.us/carnegie-mellon-scientists-invent-headlights-that-make-rain-snow-disappear/

 

[imported_abyss113]

so does the citroen c5 have the automatic suspension lol as for the rain headlight thingy i see that being a BAD idea how many people would forget they would be driving in dangerous conditions ??

they need to hurry with simple things like tyres the non air filled tyres seem like could be good use anyone remember these

 

[lkc]

Pfft if it's new scientist judges then the answer has to revolve around carbon nanotubes. So components replaced that require longitudinal strain like conrods. Lower rotational stress on crank with increased engine balance from more precisely engineered conrods. End results less power loses through less internal momentum and better throttle respones increased fuel economy and best of all it's carbon nanotubes so the crew at new scientist will cum in their pants.

Condense that into 50 words and you and Janine could be off to London for a luxury weekend I'd leave out the bit about cumming in their pants though :laugh:

electronicly controled paint color.

i remember reading somewhere about electro reactive paint.. so may exist but id love to change the color whenever i want to whatever i want......

also ive always been a fan of Headsup displays so like pop up reversing camera on the rear window ect.

I like that idea. Also stronger paint that isn't chipped so easily would be good too

 

[lkc]

i read an article saying scientists have invented headlights that can detect rain, and they can somehow or another stop the particular beams of light as to where the rain drops are, therefore making it look like its not raining, and making ur view ahead clearer etc.

if your interested, here's the article:

http://bigfox.us/carnegie-mellon-scientists-invent-headlights-that-make-rain-snow-disappear/

The grammar nazi almost had a fit over that article lol.

I'm with Daz on the road safety issue though. One of my bug bears is more and more features being added to cars which make decisions for you and mean you don't have to assess the road conditions. Recently I had a bmw behind me whose headlights came on every time the traffic passed under trees. At first I thought they were flashing me for some reason before I realised what was happening. It was fecking annoying and completely unnecessary. Another thing I've noticed is when the temp drops below 4°C traffic slows down. I can only guess others get the "Caution: Ice" warning too and lower their speed without any rational thought taking place

so does the citroen c5 have the automatic suspension lol as for the rain headlight thingy i see that being a BAD idea how many people would forget they would be driving in dangerous conditions ??

they need to hurry with simple things like tyres the non air filled tyres seem like could be good use anyone remember these

I like those